It appears that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Facebook for the horrible, horrible act of letting kids like ads. As TechCrunch explains:

On Facebook, you can “like” any status update or post in your stream, but you can also “like” ads. When you do so, it can appear as a status update to all your friends if that ad is linked to a Facebook page, thus turning the “like” button into a social endorsement…

The class action lawyers claim that in the case of teenagers, Facebook is “misappropriating the names and pictures of minors for profit.” Facebook might say that it is in its terms of service, that’s how the site works. But the lawsuit hinges on a loophole in California law which requires parental consent in order to obtain a minor’s consent for using their name or likeness for an advertisement, And Facebook doesn’t do that.

This seems like a clear “unintended consequences” situation. Politicians pass a law to “protect the children” from being exploited in advertisements, but it also has the potential to get in the way of really harmless activity, such as a kid clicking a “like” button on his Facebook profile.

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